Jim's Beer Kit

If I try refilling without inverting the gas bottle should I just fill for around the 30 seconds time still that co2 supermarket mentions. Does anyone know how much less weight you get in the sodastream bottle by filling with the donor cylinder upright? Unless someone has already worked it out (and...

... added 200g of black treacle. 200g! :shock: Don't do what I did and keep adding the treacle for 30-40 years before realising what a disastrous effect it was having on the beer (as per my first post in this thread). I stopped using treacle way back and switched to molasses. Although it's less ref...

Bung some Nottingham in........... I started using "Nottingham" yeast as a replacement for anything I do that asks for US-05 ("DIYDog" recipes). Which about covers my feelings towards "Nottingham" yeast (yawn). I had hoped it would clear a bit better than US-05, but no, it doesn't. If you are using...

BarnsleyBrewer wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 17, 2018 12:37 pm

Bung some Nottingham in...........

I started using "Nottingham" yeast as a replacement for anything I do that asks for US-05 ("DIYDog" recipes). Which about covers my feelings towards "Nottingham" yeast (yawn). I had hoped it would clear a bit better than US-05, but no, it doesn't.

I did the Wheeler recipe earlier in the year. I'd been playing with OP clone recipes for quite a while (early 1980s - is that quite a while?) but always taken in by the suggestion it contains treacle/molasses. I only began too doubt this this year when realising the raw sugars encouraged a "flabby",...

I don't think my cylinder is anywhere near 900 PSI, around 500 I think (i'll check). It seems to manage 400g of liquid quite happily when the SS bottle has been in the freezer. ... With CO2 the cylinder pressure isn't a variable. At room temperature the cylinder pressure is about 850-900PSI as long...

I have something like the CO2Supermarket device off eBay (direct from China). It hasn't been used yet but the day will come when the Sodastream bottle needs a refill. Terrifies me. What all the adverts for these things display is a big donor cylinder with the Sodastream cylinder attached. The donor ...

There is an expensive but digital refractometer option. Wow! A digital refractometer. I've got too have one. Let's look 'em up ... ah; that's what you mean by expensive! Guess I'll just have to wait. You can buy a handful of "Tilt" hydrometers for the price of one of them. Tilts might be a bit dodg...

It’s an interesting theory- if the Scots weren’t too precious about sharing their yeast with other breweries it would seem odd that they might draw a line at a Belgian one. There is anecdotal evidence of exchange of brewing techniques and influences between the uk & Belgium. So the idea of the Scot...

Should add... Can't find any other descriptions of Chevalier malt tasting of "honey"? But it was tasting distinctly of honey! Perhaps the yeast had a hand in it? I used a "Scottish Ale" yeast (well, being an Usher's recipe); WYeast #1728. Was reading about "Scottish" yeast recently. Apparently you c...

… Once I’ve moved house I have a couple of IPA recipes earmarked to try out with eye-watering IBUs. They will be aged for 6 months minimum though. Don't wait! Get it made now and bung the maturing casks in the back of the removal truck. So it wont be a ship to India, but you could say its "sort of"...

Thanks for the update on this ... Cheers. I'm intending to repeat the "Usher's" recipe for Christmas but adapting for an anticipated lower extraction - I wish I'd heard the Chevallier malt will extract low before starting the last, or perhaps I should have assumed it? I picked a "domestic" pale ale...

, My current favourite for bitter is Lallemande ESB, which many appear to dislike. What is your take on Lallemand ESB? ... I used Lallemand London ESB in my last sub-0.5%ABV beer. Not sure it bought much in the way of flavours, but it didn't ferment dry like US-05 which is what I was hoping for. <4...

Well down the line now, the beer has had it's 3 months maturing and is on tap. Chevallier malt: Disappointed at first because I never hit expected extraction levels - a mash efficiency of just over 60% when I normally expect over 80%. Usher's 1886 Pale Ale: The hopping was fierce, it needed the 3 mo...

I mess with trying to brew beers below 0.5% ABV. Not easy! Cut my teeth on the DIYDog "Nanny State" but don't care for the coarse American "C" hops either. And I've discovered they do little to assist such a low alcohol beer - mash too low temperature-wise, wrong yeast (too attenuating), just loads ...